Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing is has found many applications in recent years. Additive manufacturing is a process by which an object is defined three dimensionally by a series of layers. The object is then produced by creating/laying down material in rows one layer at a time.
There exists systems that use modified inkjet type technology to ‘print’ material onto a substrate, so building the object. A type of AM process utilizing ink jet print heads is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,176 to Menhennett, et al. Another type of AM process which extrudes a bead of material to build a part is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,141 to Batchelder et al.
Another type that can utilize an inkjet print head is a UV curable or photopolymer material such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,962. In this process monomers are used which polymerize by irradiation with ultraviolet light in the presence of a photo initiator.
A problem with current photopolymer materials is that for specific applications, they lack the physical properties and/or optical properties needed. Currently, when adding composite materials to photo curable materials, this usually results in nozzle clogging of the inkjet head and poor curing capabilities.